At last, they had finally arrived at the park. Luckily, their temporary worried moods had changed and Jack had pushed the sight of his friend to the back of his mind. The fresh smell of airy life bloomed with happiness and enjoyment. Birds chirped, and every cloud was so white that they looked like giant cotton balls in the blue sky. There were people exercising, children playing, and families enjoying themselves. Not to mention the monument that was the park’s fountain placed in the middle of all this beauty. It made Jack smile. He couldn’t be happier. He was going to make sure that every last second of the day counted while basking in all this amazing glory of happiness.

Jack hugged his Dad out of kindness. “Thanks Dad for bringing me!”

His dad smiled back at him. “No problem champ! I did promise you right?”

“Yeah you did! What should we do first?”

“Hmmm. Well your mother did pack us a bag full of fun goodies. I’ll get them out of the car.”

“Okay Dad!”

Jack’s dad grabbed the bag out from the backseat that Jack’s mom packed for them. While coming back with the bag, he tightened his legs.

Jack started laughing at how silly his Dad looked and asked, “What’s wrong Dad?”

“I need to go pee. Stay around the fountain area. I’ll be back soon, okay champ?”

Jack listened and stayed put around the fountain area like he advised him to. His dad headed off to the public restroom but also tried his best to not look like a fool. Jack decided to sit down and look up at the sky. The thought of Veronica’s horrified face popped back into his mind, and that feeling of curiosity came about too.

What really happened at Veronica’s place?

Jack started praying again, begging God to never stop watching over him, that way he hoped he would never make the same face she did. Jack knew he just loved his life so much and still worried about his safety… even if he did live in such a nice neighborhood.

Finishing up his prayer and opening his eyes again, Jack looked around the area to see once again how lovely the place was, but then he spotted Anna. She looked lonely and extremely sad.

Being the good friend he is, Jack shouted at her, trying to get her attention. “ANNA!”

She noticed someone had shouted her name, but to confirm that it was him, while she glanced around Jack waved so she could spot him. She noticed and quickly ran towards him, then sat next to him but didn’t say a word.

Anna looked so depressed, so he asked her, “What’s wrong?”

She looked at Jack and grabbed his hand, then her eyes started to water. Jack held her hand and caressed her hair with the other. She leaned on him and clinched onto him, too. Feeling her sadness he wrapped his arms around her to comfort her.

“Anna… why the long face? Why are you here all alone? Is everything okay?”

Anna began to slightly whimper. “My fa-family prom-promised us to go to the pa-park together on this sp-ec-ific day, but th-then they suddenly said NO! Because I’ve be-been be-behaving badly and I’m an aw-awful child!” She was stuttering so bad that Jack could barely understand what she was saying.

He wiped her tears with his shirt and poked her nose. “Hey now, don’t cry. I don’t want to see my dear friend be upset on such a beautiful day.”

She sniffled and looked at him, then wiped away any leftover tears. “Okay.”

Being the good friend that Jack was, he wrapped his arm around her again and the two sat there cuddling.

After some time had passed, her emotions finally simmered down and Jack managed to comfort her enough to the point where she could finally talk normally. “They’ve been treating me this way for two months, they used to love me. But now they despise me… I don’t know what to do Jack!”

Feeling sickened about hearing her parents not loving her anymore, Jack grabbed Anna’s shoulders and looked into her eyes. “HEY!! They’re wrong okay! You’re not a terrible person, Anna. Everything will be okay.”

Jack looked at Anna more than just a best friend. His feelings for her were far greater than that, probably more like a sister… or so he thought. But they’d known each other for so long now. That was why Jack guessed that they shared this type of bond.

“It’s not only that, it’s my mom… she hates me more than ever! She’s been so mean to me emotionally and…” She paused for a second and continued. “Like yesterday, I was choking on some food and you know what she said?”

“What?” he asked.

“DIE… you’re nothing more than the seed I should have swallowed! Choke on your SINS!” Anna broke into tears again. She placed both palms on her face and cried with such emotional pain.

Jack grabbed both her hands. “It’s okay to cry, so long as there’s someone there to comfort you. And that someone is me.”

She blushed and embraced him. In Jack’s honesty, throughout this entire conversation, his heart was racing the entire time and his face was kinda red too. Jack didn’t understand these feelings though. Instead, he patted her head while she still held onto him.

“Your mom’s always been so cruel to you. Don’t you ever let her get to you Anna, so long as I’m by your side.” They stared into each other’s eyes as the fountain continued shooting water behind them. Light waves of spray came between them. Jack smiled. “I will always protect you. Always.”

Her eyes expanded out of relief and glistened brightly from hearing his words of wisdom.

As she was about to lean close to him and whisper something, Jack’s dad came back and saw them close to each other. He smiled and laughed. “Hey son! So you finally had the courage to get yourself a girlfriend? I knew you two would eventually come together, even though you’re still young.”

“Girlfriend?” He looked at him, tilting his head in confusion. Anna’s face became as red as a tomato, probably because of all that crying Jack presumed. “I mean, she is my friend and she’s a girl.”

Anna sighed, then giggled. She playfully smacked Jack’s head. “You big dummy! That’s not what he meant.” She looked at his dad with a huge smile, then got up. “I didn’t mean to bring such worry for both of you.”

Jack’s dad patted her shoulder. “No need to worry young Annabelle, you’re like family to us. Don’t assume you’re a hindrance, because you’re not.”

Jack grabbed her hand. “Yeah, my dad’s right! If you need anyone to talk to, or a shoulder to lean on, I’m here for you, okay.” Annabelle’s eyes glistened with joy as his words filled her hurt heart and healed it. “I’ll always be here for you.”

Her face brightened up even more as her eyes continued to shine with joy. She giggled and placed her finger onto his lip, then she moved her hand to atop his head and ruffled his hair. “You’re such a big dummy, you know that? No matter how much we fight over the pettiest things, we’ll always be intertwined.”

Jack brushed her hand away and scratched his head. “How nice of you to say when you just called me a dummy and messed up my hair!”

She got up, took a step forward, and waved to the both of them. “Goodbye and thanks for cheering me up.”

As she started walking off, Jack’s dad wanted to make sure she left safely, “Anna, do you want a ride home or something?”

“Nah, I think I’ll be fine since I came here on my own.”

“Alright then, how about I’ll guide you out instead?”

“I’ll come too!” Jack said.

Anna shakes her head, “Nah, I’ll be okay Jack, I don't want to worry you any further.”

“Are you sure Anna?”

She nods, “I’m sure.”

“Alright, you heard her son, you stay put while I make sure Anna’s fine on her way out okay, though I think it’s better we take you by car but, hey, as you say princess.”

Jack did what his dad told him to do, stay put as he watched his dad guide her out of the park.

Why doesn’t she want us to take her by car… how strange.

After a minute or two, his dad returned but as soon as Jack was about to say something, he asked, “Why was Annabelle crying?”

Jack guessed his dad noticed because of her eyes being all puffy. “Her family hates her now for some odd reason.”

“Is that all she told you?” Jack’s dad asked.

“That’s all she told me.”

“Well, you make sure to check on her okay. Just to be sure everything stays fine. She’s like a part of our family.”

Jack nodded and smiled. “I promise Dad. I will.”

His dad laughed. “You know, the two of you remind me of your mom and I when we were around your age, maybe a little older. Those were rough times though, especially when she needed someone to talk to, I would always be there for her.”

Jack couldn’t understand his comparison so he just said, “Is that so? That sounds cool.”

The way Jack replied made it sound like he was being way too sarcastic but his Dad didn’t seem to mind. He shrugged then laughed hysterically at what Jack said.

Jack was so confused and asked, “What do you really mean?”

However, his dad continued to laugh.

They both ended up going about their day having the time of their lives. First they played football, then they tested their strengths in a good match of wrestling. They also tested each other's speed in an exhausting game with a foot race, and lastly they both finished with Jack’s favorite event: Catch the candy snatcher! Jack was playing the role of famous detective Mr. Trench Coat, and it was his job to catch the world famous candy snatcher. It was so much fun for them both.

As the day came to an end, both father and son looked up at the sky again to think of all that had happened, especially what happened at Veronica’s house but more importantly, the messed up situation with Anna. All the thinking about Veronica and Anna made Jack come to the conclusion to ask Anna tomorrow about the thing that made her entire family hate her all of a sudden. Then he’d ask Veronica about her situation.

Jack poked his father’s back. “Dad.”

He turned around with a smile still on his face. “Yes champ?”

Jack took a huge deep breath and gave himself the courage to ask about his growing curiosity from earlier. “Why did you leave college?”

His dad’s smile faded, then he became quiet and mysterious-like. He shook his head and said, “Get in the car. I’ll answer your question on the way home.”

Jack’s smile faded. He didn’t like that response. In fact, he felt guilty now that he’d asked him. He hopped into the car and so did his dad. They left the park, but his father still seemed upset. After a small silent trip back home, his dad finally sighed deeply and turned to Jack after they parked in their driveway.

“Well, I dropped out of school, mostly to take care of my mom who was incredibly ill at the time. I also took care of your mom while she was pregnant,” he said, gently patting his head. “With you.”

Jack was surprised that his dad actually answered him. The silent trip back home must’ve given him enough time to think it through.

“How old were you and Mom?”

His dad chuckled. “We were barely on the brink of adulthood when all these events happened. I started working at the manufacturing plant where I’m at now, as a janitor to make some money, but eventually, I began climbing those mountains of that factory to be in the current position I have. I say it turned out pretty well for all of us in the end.”

Jack’s smile returned. “Awesome! But, I have a Grandma?!”

He chuckled. “You still do! But it’s your mom’s Mom.”

Jack tilted his head in confusion. “What happened to your Mom, Dad?”

Jack’s dad expressed half a grin. He couldn’t help himself but get a bit teary eyed. “Well… she went somewhere special.”

Jack was eager to hear his father’s answer. His eyebrows raised. “Oh! Where did she go?”

He chuckled nervously. “Well… She went to heaven and became an angel with wings, then flew into the sky.”

Jack pumped his fists with excitement. “Awesome! Will you and Mom become angels too!!”

He smiled again. “Yes son, you too will become an angel.”

Jack started getting rousey with excitement, but seeing how positive he was made his dad feel a little better. Jack jumped over the car seat and hugged his Dad. “I love you Dad!”

He held Jack and continued holding back his tears. “I love you too son.”

After brightening up their moods, they finally got out and headed inside, but Jack stopped his dad for a second. “Dad… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

He turned around and hugged him again. “No, no, it’s okay! Don’t feel bad son, I’m fine.”

“Okay Dad!”

They went inside to where Jack’s mom was watching her favorite show. She noticed them and then greeted the two with hugs and kisses.

“Hey there my handsome men!” she said, pinching Jack’s cheek.

Jack’s dad hugged her, then they did that thing with their lips. Jack didn’t know what that was all about again, but to Jack it seemed so freaking gross.

Jack’s mom noticed his dad’s forced smile. “Hey honey, what’s the matter?”

“Oh nothing. Just tired, that’s all.”

Jack’s mom crossed her arms. “Hmmm. Jack, why don’t you go and brush your teeth, take a shower, and go to bed.”

Jack listened to her command immediately, not wanting to get on her bad side anymore. “Okay Mom! Will do!”

He headed upstairs and went inside his bathroom. He brushed his teeth, showered, then put on his pajamas. While doing all that, Jack could hear his parents discussing something downstairs, which made him curious, so he stepped out of his room and walked close to the edge of the guard rail to see and hear their conversation.

Jack’s mom said in a loud voice, “Babe, what’s wrong?”

His father sighed. “He asked why I dropped out of college.”

“Oh!” She sounded surprised to hear that. “What did you tell him?”

“Almost everything to be honest.”

Jack’s mom moved closer to his dad. “He’s too young to understand! You know that? What did you tell him? It couldn’t have been everything right?”

His dad chuckled. “I took care of Mommy and his mom too!”

“Is that all?”

“No! I-I told him Grandma became an angel and… ha-had to go.” Jack’s father began to quietly cry.

“Oh honey. That was so sweet, but I know how you’re still hurting about your mother.”

“Yeah, but Mom was always wise and told me to never look back, to always look ahead into the future, never the past.”

“I know that you still miss her but she’s right. It’s okay to be sad. At least he now understands… maybe a little I suppose?”

Jack’s mom kissed his dad on the lips. “Yeah I guess so. Let’s go to bed.”

Without them noticing, they were oblivious that Jack overheard their conversation a tiny bit by sticking his head through the edge of the guardrail. Mistakenly he sneezed, which made them both look up and noticed their son peeking. They both stared up at Jack.

“Ugh, goodnight,” Jack replied with a wave and immediately ran back into his room.

They both rushed upstairs and rushed in, attacking their son with hugs and kisses. Jack’s dad laid him on his bed and wished his son a goodnight’s sleep. He left the room and Jack’s mom stayed behind to make sure he didn’t stay awake. Since it was just the both of them, Jack wanted to ask her all the confusing questions he wanted answers to.

Jack fiddled with his fingers. “Mom… when Veronica and I were hugging while standing in front of her bus… the kids made smoochie faces, then her face turned all red. What were they imitating?”

Already figuring out her son’s situation, Jack’s mom started to giggle and turned red herself. “Oh, how cute. Does my little handsome man have a crush on his bestie?”

She patted his head and hearing how his mom said it kinda annoyed him. He brushed her hand away, kindly of course. “Huh? Crush? I don’t understand, what does that mean Mom! I’m confused. Can you please explain Mom, please?”

His mom then looked confused herself, giving her son that same look of hopelessness like his friends did. “Wow! I guess Dad hasn’t given you the talk. He’ll explain it in more detail about it than what I would. I think you’re just gonna have to wait till he tells you first, okay sweetie?”

Jack grunted out of frustration. “Talk? I’m so confused, but I guess I’ll wait. Thanks anyways Mom.”

She smiled and kissed him on the head before leaving. “Goodnight, sweet dreams.” She turned off his lights and closed the door behind her.

Jack was more curious about what she meant. It conflicted with his inner feelings. Jack couldn’t wait to ask his Dad what she meant. He loved learning new things, so Jack decided that he would ask his dad about it in the morning. He slowly closed his eyes, then began to sleep soundly and dreamed of his usual future.

As the misty night dwelled through the premise of Jack’s room, the beginning of the night was normal, but as it coursed through its second phase… A daunting, faint giggle disrupted his deep slumber, brushing it against his eardrums and pierced into his dreams, almost as if it were real. Yet… for some odd reason, Jack couldn’t wake up to this abnormal giggle that seemingly belonged to a little girl. Though his sleep was strong, he was completely aware of those laughters of innocence. At first he thought he was just hearing things inside his dreams, but it sounded way too real. The way it brushed against his ear drums, and the innocence that reflected off its melody, was haunting.

“Why can’t I?” Jack tumbled around his bed as those laughters grew. “Wake up… wha-what’s going…!”

It grew and grew, and finally he awoke from his slumber, rising up out of surprise and gasping for air. His face felt hot, and sweat dripped down his shocked face.

Regaining his breath and realizing he was fully awake, he looked around the midst of darkness inside his room, and noticed it was really late into the night. Sitting there with his blanket still covering his legs, the only thing he could hear was that of his ticking clock and mild soft breathing. But then, that ambience of utter silence was interrupted by a couple of caws and slight screeches outside his window.

Jack got out of his bed to investigate such a weird occurrence and looked out the window. When he did, there they were, a couple of crows gazing at a huge tree on the other side of the street in front of his home. But they weren’t the only ones, there were also some on a street lamp, too. They were really hard to spot because their feathers blended with the darkness of night. This confused Jack though.

Why on earth would they be here at this time? And more importantly… Why are they here in this area to begin with?!

Jack didn’t like this, at first it was the random giggling, then not being able to wake up immediately to react to such a noise as this. He couldn’t comprehend what was going on, so he scratched his head out of frustration.

“This isn’t normal. Birds like them don’t usually show…”

Something strange happened to those birds of death that were eyeing his home. Their eyes slowly started to glow brighter and brighter.

“Hold on a second! Wha-What’s the meaning of this! Th-Their eyes!”

Such a strange sight made him back away from the window out of fright, but as soon as he did… the giggles returned to torment his ears.

The laughter was much louder than before, but was growing less innocent by the second. From where he stood, Jack looked in circles while those giggles continued, which drove him crazy and were scaring him.

To find out where the ominous sound was coming from, he decided to investigate it fully and quietly walked out into the hallway. His house was eerily dark and it felt empty with the silence bringing white noise that would normally drive someone insane.

The giggling continued, then as Jack stepped forward, it transitioned into sobbing. Goosebumps slowly rose from his arms, as the sense of fear building up inside Jack couldn’t be more evident than the frightened look in his eyes. He stood there, shaken with fear, but he clenched his fists and made his way towards the agonized cries. By the sounds of it, he knew it was coming from his parent’s room.

Realizing where the source of this horror was coming from made his breathing heavy and frantic. He started to tense up as he took his time approaching his parent’s door in the dark. He was inches away from grabbing that door knob and twisting it, but he halted because the sobbing got louder. He hesitated to open the door when he heard the muffled sobs of saddened loneliness, but as soon as he was about to try and grab the door knob, he felt something thick, wet, and cold on his feet.

As he glimpsed down to figure out what it was, he gasped and retreated. “Mo… Da…!”

What Jack saw coming out below the door left him in so much shock that he couldn’t finish his words. It was a black liquid of some sort that appeared disgusting and looked like tar. His jaw dropped, bouncing erratically from this sudden shock that left him paralyzed in fear, but It wasn’t time to chicken out since the stuff was coming out of his parent’s room. He closed his eyes, stepped onto the pile of thick black, and grabbed the knob, then opened the door.

When he walked in and opened his eyes, the first thing Jack assumed was that his parents would be asleep in their bed, but it was not that. Instead, his parents weren’t there at all.

No… There was someone in the corner in an eternal void of complete whiteness, with their head buried between their knees and hugging themselves for dear life.

Jack couldn’t comprehend anything that was happening, yet he was completely at a loss for words. He stared at the person clutching their head between their knees and crying softly, but as he stared more, he realized that it was a little girl sobbing. She had black hair as dark as the night sky that hung over them. Jack swallowed out his nervousness, along with his ever-growing fear, and prepared himself to confront the stranger.

He slowly walked towards her from behind, closing the distance between them. He wondered if this was all just a dream, so he stopped for a moment to punch himself in the face to answer his question. And when he did, nothing changed.

“No… no, it-it can’t be… real?” he said quietly as a small stream of blood flowed out from his bottom lip. To bring the madness to a stop, he decided to talk to the sorrowful girl.

She stopped sobbing, then slowly lifted her head out of her knees and whispered, “Who-Who are you?”

The moment Jack heard her soothing voice, his heart beat abnormally fast. He wondered why it was pumping so profusely, But figured it might be because of her gentle response or from her soothing voice. It couldn’t be out of fear. He just knew it. What he felt was a different feeling he’d never had before.

Jack clenched his hands and took a deep breath to relieve himself of the insanity. “Umm… my name’s, ughh… Jack.”

When he revealed his name, she gasped quietly. It was a little creepy, enough for Jack to take a step back. He thought it was cowardly to do such a thing to a person in need of help, whether it was a dream or something else, but it didn’t matter. What mattered now was that the girl was in pain and he wanted to help her, so he approached her even more, to the point of extending a hand out to her, while wondering why he was doing this to someone he didn’t even know.

She slowly turned to reach his hand as well, almost like she knew he was going to do such a thing.

When her hand was just mere inches towards Jack’s, she stopped and began to chuckle a bit. Standing there out of his own confusion, for some odd reason, just hearing her chuckle was… aggravating for Jack.

These chuckles sounded so familiar to him even though he’d never met this person. He wondered why it was making his blood boil.

Just when Jack was about to say something to escalate the situation into something dire, out of nowhere the whole room went dark, turning into an old wooden-like room that resembled something from the dark ages with a coffin set in the corner. She sprung right up and started to laugh maniacally, while tilting her head.

The room turned black and white, erasing all colors from reality and then transformed back into his parent’s room. As he looked everywhere, trying to figure out the bizarre event that was occurring, there was black splattered everywhere, giving him the assumption of a bloody massacre.

The little girl tried to hug him as he was oblivious. Jack was looking around frantically while she reached towards him, hovering closer like a cloud of misty darkness. She was just in arms reach until she stopped, but for some reason, she couldn’t hug him. Something made her stop unknowingly in her place. Upon looking back at her, her arms were about to reach for his face, which was close enough to startle him. So much so that he panicked and stormed out of the room.

The girl’s arms quivered out of sadness. “Don’t leave me…!” she said beneath her breath. “Don’t go!” Then she screamed horrifically as if she were being murdered.

Jack tripped on his way back to his room, scrambling to get away as fast as he could. He heard that cry and heard her screaming bloody murder.

“Come back to me!”

Jack paused momentarily and turned back to the scream. He shook his head and tried running again, but the floor started to get slippery and he fell on his butt.

“Jack!” she yelled out, making him gasp loudly in surprise.

The floor disappeared afterwards, causing Jack to fall into a pit of darkness, making him scream from the top of his lungs out of pure terror.

While Jack screamed, falling into this eternal darkness, he couldn’t help but feel that this was all too real. Knowing that this might not be a dream brought out tears. He called out for his parents as he fell into the pit of darkened hell and even though he was falling, which seemed like an eternity, he could see glimpses of light in his fuzzy plain view. Suddenly, upon hearing her last scream and alongside his, he stopped falling.

Somehow, Jack was on a flat surface. Just a moment ago, he was falling and crying out in horror, but now he appeared to be lying on some hard surface as if nothing had happened.

Jack wiped his face with a forearm. As he got up, he scanned the depth of black around him, but it was just too dark. He looked above and saw a tiny light that was still bright.

For some odd reason it was calling out to him, so he tried reaching for it, but he was stopped by some unknown entity. It felt as if some cold smoke had gotten a hold of his wrist.

Jack looked before him and spotted a giant glowing rose. He managed to break free from whatever was grabbing him from the shadows and he walked up to the rose, observing its unknown beauty. As Jack examined this phenomenon, the petals began to blossom to reveal something terrifying. It was all his friends and family with thorn-like nooses around their necks as they hung from the petals themselves.

“WHY?!” he screamed, clutching his head, then dropping to his knees. “What’s going on? Why is this happening!”

His eyes filled with watered terror, and all the people who he loved deeply were being swung around like empty corpses. He screamed his lungs out into the endless void of darkness. Jack had enough. He wanted all this to come to an end, but as he cried, his eyes began hurting as well. He quickly wiped them, and the moment he looked at his hands… black liquid was on them.

“Stop! Make it stop!”

The minute he glanced back at that rose, it began to die. His loved ones melted off of the thorn nooses like black goo, splashing the last remnants of their existence all over the ground. And as that plant was coming to its shortened end, the moment he looked above, there she was, that girl from earlier. She stood on top of the rose and was the cause of its demise. She had destroyed the rose by simply touching it.

She looked at him and said with that incredibly gentle voice, “I-I finally found you, again… at last!” Her head tilted to the side. She began to hug herself, terrifying Jack even more.

He tried looking at her face, but he noticed from beneath all that sea of hair, she had no face. This was all too much for him to bear, so much so it gave him the courage to stand back on his feet. But when he did, she leaped off the rose and tried lunging at Jack with such horror. He screamed again and quickly dodged her horrific hug of death, running away from her as fast as he could. He didn’t care where he was going, he just wanted to get away from her, but his chest felt heavy. And with such a heavy feeling in his chest, it made it difficult to run.

From his intense panting, with sweat dripping off his face, he just couldn’t stop running, and if he did… who knew what would happen to him if she got a hold of him with those lifeless hands of white. Sadly, he was quickly growing tired, but for some odd reason, his feet felt as if he were in a pit of tar.

He looked down and noticed he was stuck. He broke down crying, this time having a mental breakdown. He repeatedly said to himself, “Make it stop! Make it stop!!”

Simultaneously, those girls’ giggles of wickedness approached him as he said the phrase over and over again. He begged God to make everything stop, then begged for his parents to come and save him, hoping that the madness would come to an end.

After continuous seconds of tortured innocence, he stopped his pathetic nature and looked back and saw the girl running towards him, violently twitching on all fours.

Jack dropped to his knees and cowardly covered his head with a broken smile, chuckling out in madness. When all hope seemed lost, Jack felt a violent shaking sensation. He didn’t know what it was but it got more intense. Chuckling away his madness, he finally realized he didn’t hear the girl anymore. He shakingly got up and turned around to spot her arms extending towards him as smoky tentacles. He could feel her presence closing in and his heart felt even heavier from sheer utter fear.

As soon as she got near his face, she stopped then slowly dropped her arms and cried. She said, “I’m… sorry,” and dropped to her knees, crying from her own remorse.

Just when he felt things were finally calming down, Jack could feel himself slowly sinking into something. He looked down at his feet and saw he was sinking into a pool of black. He was sinking faster than a ship, but now it was to the point he could barely see anything. His vision began to blur as darkness slowly started to overpower his vision. Her cries, her muffled cries, were the last thing he heard as the eeriness of silence succumbed to his ears.

Jack became submerged and could hardly breath, an endless black void was the only thing he could see. All that ran through his mind was the future, his friends, and… his… parent’s voices?

Mom? Dad? Where are you…? Where were you?!

He only heard his own overbearing, painful echoes of desperation.

All of a sudden, his eyes burst wide open. Jack quickly sat up and screamed while gasping for air. His mom and dad were there in front of him and looked at Jack with distraught faces, almost like they’d witnessed something terrifying while he continued catching his breath and kept coughing excessively.

Jack’s eyes were still blurry from all the crying. He rubbed his eyes, blinked rapidly a couple times and looked at his parents with his vision regaining clarity. They kept muttering to him that “It’s just a dream.”

His mom held him, trying to calm him down. “It’s okay son, it’s okay. It was just a dream. Shh, shh.” Her soft shushes were calming Jack down. “We’re here now, don’t worry!”

His dad rushed to his bathroom to grab a wet towel. Meanwhile his mom looked at his horrified face. “Oh baby, look at how white you look! You must’ve dreamt of something terrible!” She kissed him on his head and laid him back down while placing a hand over his forehead. “Oh God… you’re burning up as well!”

Jack was still in shock. So all of that was just a dream… but it felt so real! Yet, for some odd reason… I can’t remember most of it? Just what the hell was all that? The only thing I remember was the girl, but that’s about it. Jack had finally controlled his breathing enough to communicate.

Jack’s dad came back with that wet towel, just in time for him to hear Jack explain himself. “I was just dreaming about getting robbed. It’s nothing really.”

They didn’t seem too convinced. “You were screaming for a good two minutes straight, shouting for our names,” said his mom, looking concerned. “You also mentioned something about a girl for some odd reason.”

Even though they said that, Jack couldn't remember. To bring his parents worry down, he lightened the mood by showing them that he was fine. He brings out a forced smile, relaxing his nerves, and stopping his shaking. Both held him.

“It’s probably all that sugar you’ve had,” his dad said.

Jack faintly chuckled. “Maybe it was, but I doubt it guys.” He grabbed the wet towel from his dad, placed it on his head, then laid back down and sighed deeply. “Thank you Mom and Dad… you’re the best.”

They both sighed. To make sure their son went back to sleep without any issues, they suggested that one of them should watch over Jack for a couple of minutes to ensure that he was actually okay. Hearing that, Jack immediately pretended to fall asleep and yawned to play off his fake act so they could rest themselves.

Both of his parents took the bait and kissed him on his cheek, prayed, and wished him a proper goodnight sleep. They left his room, and all became quiet again.

As darkness overtook his room again, Jack opened his eyes and stared off into space. “Just what the heck was that dream though? More importantly, who was that girl? Why did it feel so real? Was it all an illusion or was it really a nightmare?”

Having his curiosity bother him, Jack hated that he couldn’t remember most of it. He wanted to just forget about it and go back to sleep.